Hunting Immortals and Demons

His cultivation had just recently broken through its fifth limit, and his Qi-blood was unlikely to increase significantly in a short period of time. Therefore, it was better to use it all to improve his martial arts.

Moreover, he still had a piece of Dao Food, which he had kept from before but hadn’t used yet.

With the Dao Food, his Man Xiang Body should be able to quickly advance to the Unity of Man and Martial Arts.

Indeed, after allowing the Dao Book to devour it, the progress of his Man Xiang Body had reached a transcendent 50%.

Afterwards, Lu Yan stopped his martial arts training, allowing all the energy from the martial food he consumed to be absorbed by the Dao Book.

In this way, the advancement speed of his Man Xiang Body doubled.

As night fell, the darkness enveloped the entire world. Nonetheless, he could still see the martial soldiers of the Liu Family patrolling.

"I wonder where my parents are being held."

Lu Yan looked up at the towering ancient fortress on the mountain and pondered.

He attempted to climb a bit, but all he found were martial soldiers and members of the Liu Clan patrolling everywhere. Access was impossible.

He had thought about asking Shen Yinuo for help but quickly dismissed the idea.

Shen Yinuo’s fighting power was strong, but even he may not be able to sneak into the heavily guarded headquarters of the Liu Family.

Moreover, even if he did manage to find Lu Qingshan and Wang Cui, they wouldn’t be able to escape.

He had no choice but to take one step at a time and seize any opportunity that presented itself.

For the time being, it appeared that the Liu Family was only threatening them with their family members’ lives to make them work harder. Their lives should not be in immediate danger.

...

About ten miles south of Changfeng City, there was a first-class blood land vein, right at the headquarters of the Wu Family.

At this moment, in the conference hall.

At the top seat, sat an old man with a robust stature and white hair.

This old man was Elder Wu, a presence at the peak of the Martial Marquis, Wu Daoyuan.

Although his face was rosy and his skin was full with barely any wrinkles, he had already lived over a hundred years old, his Qi-blood had begun to decline, and he didn’t have much life left.

Although it is said that a Martial Marquis can live up to approximately 120 years old, what martial artist doesn’t fight and kill? Any fighting or killing would inevitably leave hidden injuries behind.

In reality, very few people actually live to be 120 years old.

On both sides below sat five figures, each one of them towering over two meters tall, as robust as a bear, emanating an imposing aura.

These five were the five Marquis of the Wu Family. Adding Wu Daoyuan, there were six.

Originally, the Wu Family only had five Marquis, including Wu Daoyuan.

However, after saving the three jin of mutated heart meat last time, they later gathered the assisting spiritual medicines, and even went as far as to pay a large sum to invite a martial chef master from Nanyi County to come help them cook the mutated nine-section heart meat.

In the end, two out of the three parts were successfully prepared. They were taken by two clan members on the brink of the Fifth Breakthrough, and one of them succeeded in breaking through, becoming a martial marquis.

The atmosphere in the conference hall was very heavy, all the Marquis of the Wu Family wore solemn expressions.

"Why aren’t you saying anything? What should we do now?"

After a while, Wu Daoyuan was the first to speak.

"In my opinion, there’s no need to worry. Although the Liu Family has obtained the Phoenix Blood Worm, preparing the ’Phoenix Blood Heart Protective Soup’ isn’t that easy. Even a Martial Chef Grandmaster can’t do it. How many Martial Chef Grandmasters are there in the six counties of Lingdong? Are they that easy to invite?"

A bald martial marquis in his forties argued.

"I don’t see it that way."

Another martial marquis in his fifties immediately disagreed: "This is an opportunity for the rise of the Liu family. They will surely pour the full power of their clan into preparing the Phoenix Blood Heart Protective Soup. Once successful, it will increase the chance of a successful breakthrough of inner strength by 40%. If that happens, and the Liu Family’s Ancestor successfully breaks through, our Wu family will face annihilation. All of us here will die without a decent burial."

"Would any of you want to risk that? Would you dare to gamble on that?"

His words left all the Wu Family’s Marquis present with an awful expression on their faces.

This was precisely what they feared.

They did not dare to bet.

Having the full support of their family, it wouldn’t be impossible to invite a Martial Chef Grandmaster.

Once the Phoenix Blood Heart Protective Soup is created, it could increase the success rate by 40%. Coupled with the Liu Family Ancestor’s own cultivation accumulation, the success rate would exceed 50%.

With such a high probability, would they dare to take the risk?

"Doing nothing would be tantamount to sitting and waiting for death. I, Wu Fuhai, am not willing to sit and wait for death. You? Who else is willing?"

Wu Fuhai’s words resounded with powerful conviction.

"No one wants to simply sit and await their death. But what can we do? Start a full-scale war with the Liu Family? Our strength is more or less equal to that of the Liu Family. Even though we have one more martial marquis this time, who knows if the Liu Family has also increased their numbers. If we start a full-scale war, both sides will only end up hurting each other, to the benefit of the Wei Family in the county city."

The bald martial marquis voiced his opinion.

"All of you have spoken reasonable arguments. So, what are the countermeasures?"

Wu Daoyuan asked. He understood all these principles very well. He needed a concrete plan of action, a solution.

The others remained silent, except for Wu Fuhai, whose face was calm, and who clearly already had everything figured out. He said, "Given our current strength, going into a full-scale war with the Liu Family would indeed lead to mutually assured destruction. But what if we had reinforcements?"

"Reinforcements? Where will the reinforcements come from? The neighboring feudal lords want nothing more than to see us and the Liu Family hurt each other so they can reap the benefits. They wouldn’t lend us a helping hand."

The bald martial marquis retorted, echoing the sentiment of the other martial marquises.

Wu Fuhai shook his head, smiling, "Have you ever heard of the North Wild Twin Stars?"

"Do you mean the Bei Clan brothers from Beiyeh City in Qingfeng County?"

Wu Daoyuan’s eyes flickered subtly as he asked.

"Indeed, when I was young, I traveled around Qingfeng County and met the Bei Clan brothers. We’ve shared life and death experiences together. Several years ago, Qingfeng County suffered a natural disaster, with devastating effects across thousands of miles. Some Blood Land Veins even dried up, leading to a desperate struggle for resources and a war among the Feudal Lords. The Bei Clan was wiped out in this war, with the Bei Clan brothers leading some folks to escape. They recently arrived in Changfeng City and are currently my guests."

"Between them, they have reached Martial Marquis Level Four — a profound realm of the Martial Marquis. If they team up with the Ancestor, they can surely encircle and kill the Ancestor of Liu Family."

Wu Fuhai said.

"Two deep-level Martial Marquis."

Upon hearing this, everyone present, including Wu Daoyuan, couldn’t help but perk up.

Martial Marquis has five levels in total. The Martial Marquis Peak corresponds to the deep level of the Martial Marquis Level Five. Both Elder Wu and the Ancestor of Liu Family are at this level.

If there were two deep-level Martial Marquis on his side, they could indeed encircle and kill the Ancestor of Liu Family.

"We will stall the other Martial Marquis from the Liu Family. The Bei Clan brothers will team up with our Ancestor to encircle and kill the Ancestor of Liu Family. Then, we can turn to deal with the others. This should settle the matter."

Wu Fuhai emphasized.

The other Martial Marquis showed signs of agreement. Wu Daoyuan tapped lightly on the table, considering the feasibility of this plan.

"Fuhai, what you propose is indeed possible, but we must also consider the aftermath. The Wei Family will not sit idly by and allow us to dominate. If we truly eliminate the Liu Family, we might provoke the Wei Family."

Wu Daoyuan said.

"Ancestor, if that happens, we can simply hand over one or two Blood Land Veins to the Wei Family to show our submission. At least we can maintain our current status. If we wait for the Ancestor of Liu Family to break through to Grandmaster level, we will be doomed."

"Moreover, after we eliminate the Liu Family, the Phoenix Blood Worm will fall into our hands. We can quietly prepare the Phoenix Blood Heart Protective Soup, and you can become a Grandmaster in one fell swoop. Would we still need to fear the Wei Family then?"

Wu Fuhai continued.

This time, Wu Fuhai hit hard at Elder Wu’s heart, prompting him to make a decision.

"Fuhai, let us meet the Bei Clan brothers first. I’ll ask them what they want."

Wu Daoyuan said.

"Alright, I’ll go now."

Wu Fuhai stood up and left.

"What do you all think about this?"

After Wu Fuhai had left, Wu Daoyuan asked again.

"Ancestor, if the Bei Clan brothers agree to help, they will certainly have conditions. We should ask what the conditions are first."

"Ancestor, I think it’s feasible. Our Wu Family could rise by using this opportunity and become a Grandmaster Feudal Lord."

...

Several of the Martial Marquis expressed their opinions one after another, nearly all of them agreeing, including the earlier bald Martial Marquis.

The Wu Family now had only two choices: Await doom and face potential annihilation, or wipe out the Liu Family to at least maintain their current status and possibly even rise further.

The choice is obvious.

Soon, Wu Fuhai walked in with two burly men.

The two men, who were in their fifties, resembled each other by seventy to eighty percent. They were, in fact, the Bei Clan brothers.

"Greetings to all."

The Bei Clan brothers bowed with a fist.

"You two, please have a seat."

Wu Daoyuan gestured, and the Bei Clan brothers sat on the side.

"I presume Brother Fuhai has already talked to you about our proposal, I wonder what is your opinion?"

Wu Daoyuan asked.

"We are able to lend a hand, but the enemy is a deep Level Martial Marquis. This fight would be dangerous, even if we have a life-saving relationship with Fuhai, we can’t act without incentives."

One of the Bei Clan brothers spoke, his name was Bei Chen.

"What do you two want?"

Wu Daoyuan asked, feeling a sense of relief in his heart.

He was not afraid of their demands. Instead, he would be worried if they did not ask for anything.

If they offered their assistance without any conditions, there could be a hidden agenda.

"Money. One hundred thousand silver per person."

Bei Chen held up a finger.

One hundred thousand silver per person made for a total of two hundred thousand. This price was astonishingly high.

But if they could wipe out the Liu Family, everything would be worth it.

"Good, I agree."

Elder Wu slapped the table and stood up, saying: "Gentlemen, looking forward to our successful cooperation."

"You guys won’t be undercompensated. Apart from the two of us, the Bei Clan still has several experts who will join us for the battle. They will assist us in wiping out the Liu Family."

Bei Chen said with a smile.

"Good, we should act sooner rather than later to avoid any changes. Prepare quickly. We will launch a surprise attack on the Liu Family’s Blood Land Vein seven nights from now."

Elder Wu finalized the plan.